Popular Music Mayhem

  Let me just start by saying how much I absolutely adore Ella Fitzgerald and her music.  She is, in my opinion, essential to the genre of vocal jazz in her time and I listen to her today and still think she's one of the best artists in the genre. Her vocals are unlike any other and when she's paired with Armstrong they make an impressive duo that has been known to make memorable songs. I chose to go away from the list because I felt that Ella Fitzgerald had much better songs in the same time period than the ones that were on it. Dream and Little Dream of Me is one such song that was very well known in its time and is still known today by many. This song pairs Armstrong's iconic trumpet playing and his own vocals with Fitzgerald's smooth and dreamy voice to create a wonderful song with a complex duet of rough and smooth. My favorite parts of this song are Fitzgerald's voice; when Armstrong sings and she's doing a velvety call and response like harmony with him,

  Alright, I can admit it, I'm a sucker for wholesome love songs with cute lyrics. Deed I Do is performed by Ruth Etting, and while her voice is certainly unique, it's still captivating with the way she sings this song. The violin, piano, and trumpet trio all back up her vocals, with the violin harmonizing with her and following her voice with the same pitch and melody. This detail adds more dimension to the song and overall just makes it even more enjoyable to listen to. My favorite part of this song is the lyrics; I found myself singing along to it on my third listen and even adding it to my phone because I enjoyed it so much. Since the song has two Verse-Refrain sections it makes the song longer and, at least in my opinion, more like how modern songs are structured. Deed I Do is one of Tin Pan Alley's many famous songs and it has been covered many times due to its popularity and sweet and simple melody. I'm glad I was able to find this song; I think that it's one

Performed by the king of jazz himself, Ain't Misbehavin is a classic jazz song, starting with a slow trumpet buildup from Armstrong accompanied by instruments set only to back him up and ending with his own solo after he sings the lyrics. Part of the reason I chose this song was for the lyrics. They're sort of funny and wholesome in how it's about being true to the one you love by not doing anything classified as misbehaving and going home early to avoid having too much fun with others, making the lyrics my favorite part of the song. Armstrong's vocals and manner of singing the lyrics have a jazz style to them, singing them in a way that is almost like improvisation, mimicking in a way the style of his trumpet solo towards the end of the song. His voice is in no way smooth, but it's his voice that makes him one of the most iconic musicians of that time, setting him apart from anyone else. There have been many renditions of this song performed by notable artists, suc

     Hi, my name is Sofia. I absolutely love music, which is why I wanted to take this class in the first place. I don't have a favorite artist nor a favorite genre because I love practically all of them and there are too many artists I like to choose just one (although I do love The Smiths and Taylor Swift a lot). Honestly, I think this blog will mostly just be me ranting about the songs I pick and going off on tangents about why they're great or not so great, hence why the word Mayhem is in the name, but I hope you enjoy it. :)